The Worst Way to Pay Your Taxes: Put Them on a Credit Card

Millions of people across the nation are looking forward to a nice refund check from the IRS. But if you're one of the unfortunate ones who has to cut a check to Uncle Sam this year, you'll want to steer clear of one increasingly popular way to pay taxes: using your credit card.

Many people are so scared of the IRS that they'd do just about anything to avoid any potential problems. That's one reason that paying your outstanding taxes with a credit card is so appealing: One click and you're done.

But the price of using a credit card is simply too high compared to the alternatives.

The private companies that the IRS has authorized to accept credit card tax payments charge as much as 2.35% in convenience charges up front. Even worse, if you can't pay off the resulting balance on your card, you'll boost your finance charges -- and with typical cards carrying annual rates of 16% or more, those charges will add up in a hurry.

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If you have the money to pay by check, it makes far more sense than charging it. Unless you earn perks like cash-back rewards or airline miles that are worth more than the 2.35% fee, there's no good reason to pay it.

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Even if you can't afford to pay your whole tax bill right now, a better alternative for some is to use the IRS' own procedures to get some relief. Requests for up to 120 days of additional time to pay in full carry no fee, and although interest continues to accrue, the current annual rate of 3% is far less than what many credit cards charge. Longer repayment plans come with an application fee, but it can still be worth it if you can qualify for reduced IRS penalties.

So if you're trying to figure out how you'll pay your taxes next week, think twice before you use your credit card. You might be far better off seeking another way to pay.

Hill, the former Fugee and solo artist behind The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill -- one of the most highly-praised albums of the 1990s -- pleaded guilty in 2012 to charges that she hadn't paid federal income taxes for three years (2005-2007), during which she made more than $1.8 million. On May 6, 2013, Hill was sentenced to three months in prison. Hill explained herself in a blog post, saying she had gone "underground" "in order to build a community of people, like-minded in their desire for freedom and the right to pursue their goals and lives without being manipulated and controlled by a media protected military industrial complex with a completely different agenda."

In April 2012, The Detroit News reported that skiing star Vonn and her estranged husband Thomas owed $1,705,437 in taxes from 2010, the year Vonn took Olympic gold in downhill at Vancouver. Vonn sounded genuinely surprised and moved quickly to settle the debt. "This is an important lesson for me," she said in a Facebook post. "Not being in control of my finances and relying on someone else who you believed had your best interest at heart was a mistake" -- an allusion to Vonn's husband, according to The Christian Post -- "and one I will not make twice."

Vonn is currently dating Tiger Woods, so everything should be fine now.

The star of The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (2000) and Celebrity Big Brother 2010 was arrested in December 2012 and charged with failing to pay more than $350,000 in New York state income taxes; Baldwin apparently failed to file in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

Ja was sentenced to two years in prison on an illegal gun charge in late 2010, and in July 2011 he received an additional 28 month sentence for having failed to pay taxes on $3 million between 2004 and 2006. The judge allowed him to serve his terms concurrently; he is set to be released on July 28.

Ja denied intentional wrongdoing on the tax evasion front. "I in no way attempted to deceive the government or do anything illegal," he said in court, according to BET. "I was a young man who made a lot of money .... I didn't know how to deal with these finances, and I didn't have people to guide me, so I made mistakes."

Though he was acquitted of double-murder in 1995, Simpson has been in prison for armed robbery since late 2008.

Lohan got good news at the end of last year, when the IRS released her from a tax lien after seizing her bank accounts. Lohan was able to pay off her 2009 tax bill -- $93,701.57 -- after Charlie Sheen cut her a check for $100,000. Other debts remain, from 2010 and 2011, but Lohan's business manager is said to be working to settle the six-figure balance.

Burress's standout career was interrupted in 2008 by an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound to the right thigh. According to the AP, "Burress has a history of being sued over debts a millionaire professional athlete seemingly could have paid."

The Bronx-born rapper faces up to two years in prison, as well as a fine of $200,000 plus IRS penalties and court costs, after pleading guilty to failing to file tax returns in 2007 and 2008, when he made nearly $3 million. Joe will be sentenced in April.

According to the AP, "His sentencing will take into consideration the government's initial allegation that he failed to pay income taxes for years 2007 through 2010," costing the Treasury $718,038. When the judge asked him if he understood the charges he was facing, Fat Joe replied, "I super-understand it."

We're not here to talk about anything else R. Kelly has ever done or been accused of doing. Not composing and performing the anthemic theme song to a cinematic teamup of Bugs Bunny and Michael Jordan, nor turning a series of weirdly amusing soap operettas into an endlessly iterating urban saga. All that matters, for our purposes, is that R. Kelly owed money on taxes from 2005 to 2010, for a total of $4,848,072.71, according to an IRS filing. Maybe his accountant was trapped in the closet.

It's been a weird descent for Flavor Flav, from hype man for legendary hip hop group Public Enemy to serial star of VH1 reality shows. Weird but lucrative, since Flav allegedly owes $906,250.56 in back taxes from 2004-2006, according to TMZ.

Sometimes you can tell a story in numbers. Five Grammys, 100 million records, 30-plus singles, $1,000 bank account, $10.2 million owed to the IRS and the state of California. This is the tale of singer and "psychic friend" Dionne Warwick, who declared bankruptcy last week. Warwick, who still sings live, blamed her troubles on "several consecutive years of negligent and gross financial mismanagement." Here's hoping she turns things around.

The former Commodore was alerted in April 2012 to an IRS tax lien to the tune of $1.1 million. He responded with characteristic smoothness: "I was recently made aware of the situation by my new team, and it's being handled immediately." It was him they were looking for.

According to Australian authorities, the star of the "Crocodile Dundee" films and his business partner owed a whopping $150 million in taxes. The allegations came as part of a 2004 fraud investigation called Operation Wickenby; the government said Hogan and others used offshore tax havens. The actor was even briefly prevented from leaving Australia after he returned in 2010 for his mother's funeral. Accounting Today reported in May 2012 that the issue was resolved on a "without admission" basis.

You may know comedian Katt Williams from Nick Cannon's "Wild 'n Out," ABC's "My Wife and Kids," or Comedy Central's "Roast of Flavor Flav." The IRS knows him as a delinquent taxpayer against whom they have filed two liens -- one in 2012 for failure to pay $3.2 million for 2008 and $829,352 for 2009, and another in 2010 for $284,000.

Williams's alleged reluctance to pony up for Uncle Sam stands in contrast with his professed love for his country. After telling a Mexican heckler to "get the (expletive) over there!" -- meaning Mexico -- Williams explained, "I don't think I need to apologize for being pro-America." The heckler, he said, had directed an obscenity at the United States.

Wayne recently wound up in the hospital after what was either an attack of epilepsy or a nasty reaction to the codeine cough syrup concoction known as purple drank. In 2010, he served eight months in Rikers Island for a gun charge.